Providing media content to content consumers for playback and consumption

ABSTRACT

Media content items is provided to content consumers for playback and consumption includes plurality of nodes interacting with each other in accordance with defined protocol in communication network. A first node receives a request for playback of a media content from a content consumer. A second node owns the requested media content and provides media content rights to the first participant and/or the content consumer. The first node further provides media content metadata to the consumer device for consumption. A plurality of instances of a distributed media rights transaction ledger, associated with respective node, includes a plurality of media content rights transactions corresponding to an acquisition of the media content rights by the first participant and/or content consumer prior to the consumption of the media content. The plurality of media content rights transactions is categorized, defined, and managed by plurality of nodes in accordance with the defined protocol.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This patent application makes reference to, and claims priority, claimsthe benefit of, and is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/246,160, filed Jan. 11, 2019, which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/616,216,filed on Jan. 11, 2018.

This application also makes reference to:

-   U.S. application Ser. No. 16/245,374, filed on Jan. 11, 2019; and-   U.S. application Ser. No. 16/246,249, filed on Jan. 11, 2019.

The above-referenced application is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to a media content rightsmanagement system for digital media and television content. Morespecifically, certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to providingmedia content items to content consumers for playback and consumption.

BACKGROUND

Advancements in the field of digital media industry, digital mediacontent rights management, and television and broadcasting sector haveled to development of various technologies and broadcasting platformsthat are revolutionizing the way consumer devices access and consumemedia content. Usually, broadcasting platforms refer to the types ofnetworks that are used to deliver the media content to the consumers.Currently, all the broadcasting platforms, such as analog terrestrialbroadcast, digital terrestrial broadcast, direct-to-home satellitebroadcast, cable, Internet Protocol (IP), and over-the-top television(OTT), compete and strive to increase their appeal in order to gainwider audience.

The television viewing market is no longer exclusively concerned withwhether media content services are viewed on a dedicated television oranother device capable of playing media content. As a result ofpenetration of new technologies in the television and broadcastingsector, it is evident that the future success of television broadcastingwill be dependent on the ability of a network provider to simplifyaccess to the content that consumers demand.

Increased competition has led the broadcast providers, the media contentowners, and the media content re-distributors to handle multiplechannels, associated media content rights, and modes of delivery at thesame time, which in turn have added unparalleled levels of complexity.This requires installation of large infrastructures and resources tomaintain uninterrupted content delivery for existing channel and alsomeet the ever-increasing demand of new channels.

Currently, clearance and negotiations of media content rights are verytime consuming and backed by readily inaccessible/unusable data.Further, multiple content libraries by various entities, requireseparate subscriptions and make it difficult for users to navigate tocontent of their choice freely without having individual subscription.From content consumer's perspective, there are multiple contentlibraries available from different service providers that are increasingin number day-by-day, thereby making it difficult for the contentconsumers to add and manage different subscriptions to consume thecontent of their choice. Furthermore, third-party measurement ofviewership of a media content may be costly, myopic, and often notavailable for all platforms. There is no mechanism to precisely trackmedia content rights and royalties for various entities. Further,isolated media content catalogs and third-party dependencies to estimateviewership for a media content, such as a TV show, to plan for futureadvertisement inventory needs and obligations, increase complexities.This in turn increases re-work and requires installation of largeinfrastructures and resources to maintain uninterrupted media contentdelivery for existing channels and limits the ability of the broadcasteror distributor to change content and/or provide digital rightsmanagement (DRM) licenses for desired media content in real time ornear-real time.

Thus, a new and advanced ecosystem may be desirable where all thestakeholders, such as the content owners, the content distributors andre-distributors, gateways, and the end consumers, can functionallyinteract with each other quickly and securely for acquisition,re-distribution, enforcement, and overall tracking of content rights andDRM licenses to provide simplified and customized playback andconsumption of media content.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present disclosureas set forth in the remainder of the present application with referenceto the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Systems and/or methods are provided for providing media content items tocontent consumers for playback and consumption, substantially as shownin and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, asset forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof,will be more fully understood from the following description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram that illustrates an exemplary system forproviding media content items to content consumers for playback andconsumption, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 1B depicts a message flow diagram illustrating exemplary messageflows for providing media content items to content consumers forplayback and consumption in the ecosystem 100 of FIG. 1A, in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 depicts exemplary block diagrams for various systems of adistributed communication network 106 in the ecosystem 100 of FIG. 1A,in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIGS. 3A and 3B collectively depict a flow chart illustrating exemplaryoperations for providing media content items to content consumers forplayback and consumption in the ecosystem 100 of FIG. 1A, in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart illustrating exemplary operations forvalidation of an identity of a content consumer in a communicationnetwork of the ecosystem 100 of FIG. 1A, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for a system employing a processing system for providingmedia content items to content consumers for playback and consumption,in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain embodiments of the disclosure may be found in a method andsystem for providing media content items to content consumers forplayback and consumption. Various embodiments of the disclosure providea method and system that simplifies and secures the acquisition,re-distribution, enforcement, and tracking of media content rights andDRM licenses to provide simplified and customized playback andconsumption of media content using a distributed media rightstransaction ledger in a cost-effective and seamless manner. Variousembodiments of the disclosure provide a mechanism by which theparticipants, such as the content owners, distributors, and the contentconsumers, may functionally interact with each other seamlessly andsecurely to enable simplified, unified, and customized access to themedia content that content consumers demand, and also enable acquisitionof DRM-managed media licenses. The disclosed method and system furtherprovide dynamic and on-the-fly negotiation of media content rights,contractual obligations, and preparation of custom catalogs to providenew and customized media asset offerings in cost-effective manner andenhanced viewer experience to reinvigorate the digital media andtelevision content broadcasting industry.

In accordance with various embodiments of the disclosure, a system isprovided for providing media content items to content consumers forplayback and consumption. In an embodiment, the system may comprise aplurality of nodes configured to interact with each other in accordancewith a defined protocol in a communication network. A first node of theplurality of nodes associated with a first participant may be configuredto receive a request for playback of a media content from a contentconsumer associated with a consumer device. A second node of theplurality of nodes may be associated with a second participant, whichowns the requested media content. The second participant may beconfigured to provide media content rights associated with the requestedmedia content to the first participant and/or the content consumer. Thefirst node may be further configured to provide a media content metadatato the consumer device for consumption by the consumer device. Aplurality of instances of the distributed media rights transactionledger may be associated with a respective node of the plurality of thenodes. The media content metadata may be received from an instance ofthe plurality of instances of the distributed media rights transactionledger. Each instance of the distributed media rights transaction ledgermay include a plurality of media content rights transactionscorresponding to at least an acquisition of the media content rights bythe first participant 108 a and/or first content consumer prior to theconsumption of the media content at the consumer device. The pluralityof media content rights transactions may be categorized and definedbased on the defined protocol. The plurality of media content rightstransactions may be managed by the plurality of nodes in accordance withthe defined protocol in the communication network.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram that illustrates an exemplary system forproviding media content items to content consumers for playback andconsumption, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. Further, FIG. 1B depicts a message flow diagram illustratingexemplary message flows for providing media content items to contentconsumers for playback and consumption in the ecosystem 100 of FIG. 1A,in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 1A isdescribed herein in conjunction with FIG. 1B, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1A, there is shown a network of nodes andparticipants, hereinafter “ecosystem 100”, for dynamic management ofmedia content rights, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. The ecosystem 100 may comprise a plurality of nodes 102 a, .. . , 102 z that are communicatively coupled to each other. There isshown a distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 that remaindistributed and synchronized with the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . ,102 z, in a communication network 106. There is further shown aplurality of participants 108 a, . . . , 108 n and 110 a, . . . , 110 n,that may be associated with corresponding nodes from the plurality ofnodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z. One or more nodes from the plurality ofnodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z may be configured to manage a plurality ofmedia content rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n with one or moreremaining nodes of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z. Theplurality of participants 108 a, . . . , 108 n and 110 a, . . . , 110 ninclude a plurality of entities 108 a, . . . , 108 n and a plurality ofcontent consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n. There is further shown aplurality of consumer devices 114 a, . . . , 114 n associated withrespective content consumers of the plurality of content consumers 110a, . . . , 110 n. The communication network 106 may be communicativelycoupled to the plurality of content consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n via anetwork 116.

Although for brevity, there is shown one third node 102 c which isintegrated with one fourth node 102 x in the exemplary FIG. 1A; however,it should not be construed to be limiting and multiple instances of thethird node 102 c integrated with corresponding instances of the fourthnode 102 x may exist in the ecosystem 100 without any deviation from thescope of the disclosure.

The ecosystem 100 may provide an online platform for creation of adigital marketplace where new media markets, such as a content tradingmarkets, may emerge. Such a digital marketplace for media content rightsmay then be realized based on a defined protocol or a method whichdefines a standard for the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z tocommunicatively couple and interact with each other. The definedprotocol may be configured to establish a network of the plurality ofnodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z, and the plurality of participants 108 a, . .. , 108 n and 110 a, . . . , 110 n upon which media content rights maybe acquired, redistributed, constraints enforced, transferred orconsumed. Among the plurality of participants 108 a, . . . , 108 n and110 a, . . . , 110 n of the ecosystem 100, a simplified, secured,real-time, and fail-safe tracking of the media content rights isensured. In accordance with an embodiment, a media content rightassociated with a media content may be an electronic implementation of alegal contract designed to allow only authorized redistribution of thedigital media content and restrict the ways the media content isconsumed.

The plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z may correspond to a serveror a service that may be configured to execute an implementation of thedefined protocol for joining the communication network 106. Inaccordance with some embodiments, a node of the plurality of nodes 102a, . . . , 102 z may be a software application that includes a set ofinstructions for defining rules for the programmatic implementation ofthe defined protocol. In accordance with other embodiments, a node ofthe plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z may be a hardware device inwhich the software application is executed. The hardware device may beowned by an entity, for example, a content owner or a contentdistributor. The plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z may be furtherconfigured to maintain a copy of the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104 and may create, distribute, execute, and validatemedia content rights transactions on/from the communication network 106.In accordance with an embodiment, each node of the plurality of nodes102 a, . . . , 102 z may be further configured to maintain acorresponding instance of the distributed media rights transactionledger 104 and communicate the corresponding instance of the distributedmedia rights transaction ledger 104 to the one or more remaining nodesupon request.

At least one node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z, suchas a second node 102 b, a third node 102 c, a verifier node 102 n, orthe fourth node 102 x may be configured to verify the one or more mediacontent rights transactions of the plurality of media content rightstransactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n communicated by the one or moreremaining nodes of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the verification may be based onverifying the identity and signature of the sender entity, such as thefirst entity associated with a first node 102 a.

In accordance with an embodiment, the at least one node of the pluralityof nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z, such as the second node 102 b, the thirdnode 102 c, the verifier node 102 n, or the fourth node 102 x may befurther configured to reject a set of invalid media content rightstransactions from the one or more media content rights transactions. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the rejection may be based on theun-verified identity and signature of the sender entity, such as thefirst entity associated with the first node 102 a. and create new mediacontent rights transactions on behalf of at least one of a contentconsumer, content distributor, or content owner. The new media contentrights transactions may be communicated to the one or more remainingnodes of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z.

In accordance with an embodiment, negotiations for media content rightsfor media content, for example a media asset, between two or moreentities, such as a content distributor or a content owner, includemedia content rights transactions. Each entity dictates correspondingterms of agreement for the media content. The media content rightstransactions may occur in sequence, forming a sequence of events. Insome embodiments, the negotiations for the media content rights mayoccur in the communication network 106, where each media content rightstransaction may be broadcasted to the entire communication network 106(i.e., to all the nodes of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 nin the communication network 106). In other embodiments, thenegotiations for the media content rights may be done mutually, wheretwo or more nodes respective to each entity may communicate by issuingtransactions directly to one another instead of broadcasting mediacontent rights transactions to the entire communication network 106. Inthis regard, one or more media content rights transactions may beprivate transactions between two entities for which private channels maybe created to communicate via nodes of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . .. , 102 z associated with different participants. This type of mediacontent rights transaction may form a sister collection of media contentrights transactions between the two entities. This may prevent excesstraffic (distribution and validation of transactions) on thecommunication network 106 (of other nodes outside of the negotiation)and frees up other nodes to handle core traffic. However, every set ofsuch mutual negotiations ends with one media content rights transactionon the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 that dictates acontract between two or more entities over media content rights toagreed media content, such as one or more media assets, which mayinclude some or all of the data referenced in the private transactionsin a clear or encrypted form.

In accordance with an embodiment, at least one node of the plurality ofnodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z may be further configured to determine (ordiscover) one or more new nodes which joined the communication network106 within a defined time period, and communicate information associatedwith the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n to the one or more newnodes. Thus, each node may be further configured to communicate mediacontent rights transactions to other nodes, regardless of whether themedia content rights transactions originate with the node or werecommunicated to it by other nodes. This way, any given media contentrights transaction may be disseminated to all nodes on the communicationnetwork 106. The at least one node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . .. , 102 z may be further configured to enforce an adherence of theplurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z to the protocol by refusing oraccepting to communicate with the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102z.

In accordance with an embodiment, a node, such as the first node 102 a,of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z may be configured to actas an electronic gateway or a proxy for a consumer device associatedwith a content consumer to connect with at least one node of theplurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z. In this regard, the node isaccessible to consumer devices via an application programming interface(API) which allows the content consumers to interact with thecommunication network 106. The first node 102 a, such as a gateway, thatbelongs to an entity acting on behalf of the content consumer, mayacquire media content rights and gather metadata surrounding availablemedia content. The purpose of a node proxying a content consumer, suchas one of the plurality of content consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n, tothe communication network 106 is to allow rapid scaling of the number ofcontent consumers without the need to scale the count of nodes.

Such node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z may be furtherconfigured to determine an identity of the content consumer fromcredentials of the content consumer. In accordance with an embodiment,the identity may be derived from a globally unique cryptographicidentifier associated with the content consumer. The node may be furtherconfigured to determine that the content consumer exists in an alternatedata store that is created based on at least a corresponding instance ofthe distributed media rights transaction ledger 104. The alternate datastore may include a set of transactions of the plurality of mediacontent rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n that correspond torecords of a plurality of content consumers that joins the communicationnetwork as new content consumers. The node may be configured to validatethe content consumer based on the existence of the identity of thecontent consumer in the alternate data store.

In accordance with an embodiment, at least one node may be furtherconfigured to enforce a plurality of constraints associated with the oneor more media content rights defined in at least one transaction of theplurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n fora participant to acquire, distribute, or consume content associated withthe one or more media content rights. In accordance with an embodiment,each node may represent at least one participant on the communicationnetwork 106 based on signed transactions originated from the node with acryptographic signature of corresponding participant.

In accordance with an embodiment, a node of the plurality of nodes 102a, . . . , 102 z may be responsible and configured to communicatecorresponding instance of the distributed media rights transactionledger 104, to other requesting nodes in the communication network 106.Accordingly, a new node may be configured to share the same distributedmedia rights transaction ledger history with any/all other nodes aswell, which allows auditing an instance of the distributed media rightstransaction ledger associated with a corresponding node. In other words,each node may append corresponding media content rights transactions, aswell as media content rights transactions from other nodes in its owninstance of the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104.

The distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 may correspond to aconsensus of replicated, shared, and synchronized digital data, forexample the plurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . ., 112 n, geographically spread across multiple sites, countries, orinstitutions. The distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 has nocentral administrator or centralized data storage. Data integrity in thedistributed media rights transaction ledger 104 may be secured byconsensus across the sites in addition to cryptographic techniques.

In accordance with an embodiment, each instance of the distributed mediarights transaction ledger 104 may include a plurality of media contentrights transactions 112 a . . . , 112 n corresponding to at least anacquisition of the media content rights by the first participant 108 aand/or a content consumer, for example the first content consumer 110 a,prior to the consumption of the media content at the first consumerdevice 114 a.

In accordance with an embodiment, the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104 may include records of historical interactions ina time sequence related to flow or movement of media content rights froma content owner to a content distributor, or from a content distributorto another content distributor, or from a content owner or a contentdistributor to a content consumer in any arbitrary media content righttransaction. In some embodiments, in addition to media content rights,the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 may includehistorical records of interactions in a time sequence of mediaconsumption by content consumer and related data/analytics, contentcatalog information, and the like.

The communication network 106 may correspond to a collection of nodes,such as the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z, that interact withone another, perform broadcast media content rights transactions withrespect to one another, and maintain a copy of the distributed mediarights transaction ledger 104 to act as a common store of data. Inaccordance with various embodiment, the communication network 106 may bea peer-to peer network, a protocol network, a distributed communicationnetwork and/or the like. In accordance with other embodiments, thecommunication network 106 may comprise one or more of a cable televisionnetworks, the Internet, a satellite communication network, a wide areanetwork (WAN), a medium area network (MAN), and a local area network(LAN). Although a communication network 106 is shown in FIG. 1A, thedisclosure is not limited in this regard; accordingly, other exemplarymodes may comprise uni-directional or bi-directional distribution, suchas packet-radio or satellite communication.

The plurality of participants 108 a, . . . , 108 n and 110 a, . . . ,110 n, may correspond to a group, a collective entity, an individual, ora company that may operate the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 zon the communication network 106. A participant of the plurality ofparticipants 108 a, . . . , 108 n and 110 a, . . . , 110 n, may act asan entity of a plurality of entities 108 a, . . . , 108 n or a contentconsumer of a plurality of content consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n. Eachparticipant of the plurality of participants 108 a, . . . , 108 n and110 a, . . . , 110 n may interact within the communication network 106by operating at least one node that adheres to the defined protocolwithin the communication network 106.

Each entity of the plurality of entities 108 a, . . . , 108 n may beconfigured to interact with the communication network 106 by operatingat least one node on the communication network 106 which adheres to thedefined protocol. An entity associated with a node of the plurality ofnodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n may present metadata of a plurality ofcontent libraries as a unified library. Another entity of the pluralityof entities 108 a, . . . , 108 n may represent a content owner, acontent distributor, or both. From the content owner, one or more mediacontent rights associated with media content may be originated. Thecontent owners may be responsible for issuing licenses for consumptionof the media content by the content consumers. All media content, suchas the media assets, may have only one content owner in perpetuity.Media content rights to the media content, such as the media assets, maybe acquired, and re-distributed in accordance with the permission of thecontent owner.

A content distributor of the plurality of entities 108 a, . . . , 108 nmay acquire media content rights from another content owner or anothercontent distributor and redistribute the acquired media content rightsto other content distributors and gateway nodes. In accordance with anembodiment, the content owner may own a given collection of mediacontent rights to be sold and/or distributed to content distributorsand/or content consumers. When a content consumer is interacting withthe communication network 106 through a node, which belongs to a givenentity in the communication network 106, the content consumer may beconsidered to be owned by the given entity. Accordingly, thecommunication network 106 may be secured by ensuring that: a) contentconsumer transactions adhere to the protocol as enforced by theproxying/gateway node; b) the entity assumes responsibility overtransactions requested by the content consumer; and c) another entitymay request to validate the identity of a given user from a priorcontent owner using the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104.An example of validating an identity of a given content consumer isdescribed in FIG. 4.

On the other hand, the content consumer of the plurality of contentconsumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n may be a user or an individual who mayacquire media content rights via a gateway on the communication network106. Accordingly, the content consumer may execute media content rightsto acquire media content licenses to consume the media content. Thecontent consumer may not have the ability to redistribute the acquiredmedia content right. In accordance with an embodiment, the contentconsumer may require an entity (one of the content owner or the contentdistributor) as a proxy or a gateway to interact with the ecosystem 100on behalf of the content consumer. Therefore, the content consumer maynot be configured to operate any node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, .. . , 102 z. The content consumer of the plurality of content consumers110 a, . . . , 110 n may be associated with a corresponding consumerdevice of the plurality of consumer devices 114 a, . . . , 114 n. Agiven content consumer may be unique across the entire communicationnetwork 106, regardless of which entities the content consumer interactswith or belongs to, based, for example, on a subscription or membership.

In accordance with an embodiment, an entity, as a content owner and/or acontent distributor, may serve as a gateway for the plurality of contentconsumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n and act on the behalf of the plurality ofcontent consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n. Further, the entity may acquirethe media content rights to distribute the media content that it doesnot own to other content distributors and/or content consumers. In sucha case, the entity may act on the behalf of the plurality of contentconsumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n. In this regard, when a content consumeris proxied through an entity to the communication network 106, theentity may become an owner of the content consumer.

The plurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 nmake up the core unit (or building block) of data that may be recordedinto the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 of thecommunication network 106. Each media content rights transaction of theplurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n mayact as a container for exchange of data across nodes among the pluralityof nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n. The structure of each media contentrights transaction and corresponding data payload may be specified bythe defined protocol for a given context, such that the plurality ofnodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n in the communication network 106 may accept,reject, validate, and parse the plurality of media content rightstransactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n in a deterministic and non-ambiguousmanner.

Each media content rights transaction of the plurality of media contentrights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n may be created by a node of theplurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z, and recorded into correspondinginstance of the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104.Further, media content rights transaction of the plurality of mediacontent rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n may be communicated toother nodes to be rejected and dismissed or validated and recorded intocorresponding instances of the distributed media rights transactionledger 104 maintained at respective nodes of the plurality of nodes 102a, . . . , 102 z. The data traffic created by the plurality of mediacontent rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n between the nodes ofthe plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z is what defines theecosystem 100 or the marketplace of media content rights. Each of theplurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n maybe categorized and specified by the defined protocol. Each media contentright transaction may include the category of: a) an announcement of anewly created entity; b) an announcement of a newly created contentconsumer; c) an announcement of newly available media content, such as amedia asset; d) an acquisition of media content rights to media content(as a result of negotiations); and e) consumption of the media contentby a content consumer.

In accordance with various embodiments, each of the plurality of mediacontent rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n may be configured todefine the acquisition and execution of media content rights. Each ofthe plurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 nmay be stored in the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 toserve as a history of interactions between various entities. Each of theplurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n mustbe originated from a node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102n, and must be distributed to all nodes within the communication network106 for validation and synchronization. Each of the plurality of mediacontent rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n may comprise at leastone of an originating node's entity's cryptographic signature, arecipient entity's cryptographic identity, and identity of one or moremedia content rights for a given media content, negotiated terms of oneor more media content rights, an identity of a content consumer, anddisparate data associated with consumption of media content by a contentconsumer. Each of the plurality of media content rights transactions 112a, . . . , 112 n may further comprise an encrypted summary of a set ofmedia content rights transactions, one or more cryptographic hashes ofhistoric media content rights transactions from the distributed mediarights transaction ledger 104 for linking one media content rightstransaction to another, and a cryptographic hash of all data comprisingthe media content rights transaction. Each of the plurality of mediacontent rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n may further comprise adescriptor for the intent of the media content rights transaction, whichmay further include at least granted media content rights after anegotiation, transferal of a media content right, and intent to begin anegotiation with another entity, grant of a media content right,consumption of media content by a content consumer, and registration ofthe plurality of participants 108 a, . . . , 108 n, and 110 a, . . . ,110 n.

In accordance with an embodiment, in a case where a media content rightstransaction is found to be invalid by most nodes in the communicationnetwork 106, the media content rights transaction may be discarded andnot appended to the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104across all nodes of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n. Theremay be an exception, where such invalid media content right transactionsmay be added to the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104, butremain invalid, to serve as a history of the origin of invalid mediacontent rights transactions. Such a history may serve as a mechanism toaudit potential attacks on the communication network 106 duringauditing.

The network 116 may be any kind of network, or a combination of variousnetworks, and it is shown illustrating the communication that may occurbetween the plurality of consumer devices 114 a, . . . , 114 n and thedistributed communication network 106. For example, the communicationnetwork 106 may comprise one or more of a cable television networks, theInternet, a satellite communication network, a wide area network (WAN),a medium area network (MAN), and a local area network (LAN). Althoughthe network 116 is shown, the disclosure is not limited in this regard,accordingly, other exemplary modes may comprise uni-directional orbi-directional distribution, such as packet-radio, satellite.

In operation, a node, such as the first node 102 a, of the plurality ofnodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z may be configured to receive logincredentials, such as a username and a password, from the plurality ofcontent consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n, as depicted by S1 in FIG. 1B.The login credentials may be received from the plurality of contentconsumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n via respective consumer devices, such asthe plurality of consumer devices 114 a, . . . , 114 n. The first node102 a may be configured to derive a unique cryptographic identifier,such as a unique string of alphanumeric characters of defined length,from the login credentials of each of the plurality of content consumers110 a, . . . , 110 n. The unique cryptographic identifier may be derivedbased on, for example a hashing algorithm, defined in the protocoldefined in the communication network 106, and may be stored in thealternate data store owned by the first node 102 a.

In accordance with an embodiment, at a later time, when the firstcontent consumer 110 a requests a desired media content for consumption,by providing corresponding login credentials, the first node 102 a, forexample a streaming media and VOD service provider, may be configured todetermine whether the unique cryptographic identifier of the firstcontent consumer 110 a is found in the alternate data store associatedwith the first node 102 a. If not found, a validator system, for exampleanother entity representing a direct broadcast satellite serviceprovider, may be checked based on the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104. In accordance with an embodiment, a validatormay be found for the unique cryptographic identifier of the firstcontent consumer 110 a using the distributed media rights transactionledger 104. The validator may be found in case the validator system mayhave previously interacted with the first content consumer 110 a, andcorresponding content media rights transaction is stored in thedistributed media rights transaction ledger 104. In an embodiment, thevalidator is not found for the unique cryptographic identifier of thefirst content consumer 110 a using the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104, the first content consumer 110 a may beinvalidated.

In accordance with another embodiment, the first node 102 a may beconfigured to validate the first content consumer 110 a based on theexistence of the unique cryptographic identifier of the first contentconsumer 110 a in the alternate data store of the first node 102 a.Additionally, the presence of the validator may validate the firstcontent consumer 110 a. Accordingly, the first node 102 a may beconfigured to receive media content playback request, corresponding tomedia content selection, from the first content consumer 110 a, via thefirst consumer device 114 a, as depicted by S2 in FIG. 1B.

In accordance with an embodiment, the unified library/custom catalog 214b owned by the first node 102 a may identify, prepare and present mediacontent on-the-fly specifically for the first content consumer 110 a,based on consumer behavior and consumption pattern of the first contentconsumer 110 a, for playback. In accordance with an embodiment, thefirst content consumer 110 a may provide a selection of a new mediacontent, as depicted by S3 in FIG. 1B, which may or may not be presentby the unified library/custom catalog 2141 b.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first node 102 a may determinewhether the media content rights (associated with selected mediacontent) are available in the unified library/custom catalog 214 b ownedby the first node 102 a. In this regard, it may be determined whetherthe first content consumer 110 a or the first entity associated with thefirst node 102 a has been granted the media content rights associatedwith the selected media content in the unified library/custom catalog214 b owned by the first node 102 a. In case the media content rightsassociated with the selected media content are available at the firstnode 102 a, the media content may be selected for consumption/executionof the rights from the unified library/custom catalog 214 b and providedto the first content consumer 110 a by the first node 102 a, as depictedby S4 in FIG. 1B.

In case the first content consumer 110 a or the first entity associatedwith the first node 102 a has not been granted the media content rightsassociated with the selected media content in the unified library/customcatalog 214 b, the first node 102 a may determine whether the mediacontent rights (associated with selected media content) are availablefor acquisition with the second entity associated with the second node102 b or the third entity associated with the third node 102 c.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first node 102 a may be configuredto dynamically acquire the media content rights from the third entityassociated with a third node 102 c (that may redistribute the mediacontent rights to the first content consumer 110 a), as depicted by S6in FIG. 1B. The first node 102 a may acquire the media content rightsfrom the third entity by negotiating with the third entity associatedwith the third node 102 c (that has the media content rights availablefor redistribution), as depicted by S5 in FIG. 1B.

In accordance with another embodiment, the first node 102 a may beconfigured to acquire the media content rights from the second entityassociated with the second node 102 b (that may own the media contentand may directly provide the media content rights) as depicted by S9 inFIG. 1B. The first node 102 a may acquire the media content rights fromthe second entity by negotiating with the second entity associated withthe second node 102 b (that owns the media content and associated mediacontent rights), as depicted by S8 in FIG. 1B.

Accordingly, the first entity associated with the first node 102 a maybe configured to negotiate with the second entity associated with thesecond node 102 b, as depicted by S8 in FIG. 1B, or the third entityassociated with the third node 102 c, as depicted by S5 in FIG. 1B. Thenegotiation may be performed for acquisition of the media contentrights, as depicted by S5 or S8 in FIG. 1B, and based on a plurality ofinteractions between nodes from plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z,in accordance with defined protocol in the communication network 106.The plurality of interactions between nodes from plurality of nodes 102a, . . . , 102 z may result in the plurality of media content rightstransactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n that may be stored in correspondinginstances of the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104maintained by each node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 nwithin the communication network 106 for validation and synchronization.

In accordance with an embodiment, each node may cryptographically hashtransaction data of each transaction. This hash may then be digitallysigned by the media content rights transaction creator with a privatekey of a private key—public key pair. The public key may then be sharedwith other nodes whereas the private key is kept as a secret. Thisallows a node to verify the creator (or the initiator) of the mediacontent rights transaction, and that the media content rightstransaction data is not altered according to the hash digitally signedby the creator. Every single media content rights transaction isverified by checking the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104distributed at the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n. Recentvalidated media content rights transactions may be grouped andcryptographically identified using, for example, but not limited to ahashing algorithm, defined by the protocol. Each group may have a uniquecryptographic identifier which is derived from a previous group's finalcryptographic identifier, transaction data's cryptographic identifier,and a defined mathematical value. The rules of the protocol may bedefined in the genesis group, i.e. the first group. Given the differenttypes of the media content rights transactions, nodes may be configuredto derive certain data representing a marketplace, such as the ecosystem100. The data that is derivable by each node of the plurality of nodes102 a, . . . , 102 z may include a global catalog of available contentitems, a per-entity catalog or an entity level catalogs of availablecontent (based on ownership/distribution rights), and a global userconsumption of content items. Such data may create the possibility ofinferring the value of media content items based on its demand (userconsumption) and its supply (availability versus number of contentdistributors). An entity may then choose to invoke a negotiation withanother entity, or entities, to acquire or distribute the media contentrights to a media content item. Since the defined protocol dictates themethod in which two or more entities may negotiate, negotiations maythen occur dynamically and without premeditated action on behalf of anyparticipating entities in the communication network 106.

Once the negotiation is successful, the first node 102 a may beconfigured to provide the media content rights acquired from the secondnode 102 b or the third node 102 c to the first consumer device 114 a,as depicted by S7 or S10 in FIG. 1B. In accordance with an embodiment,the media player of the first consumer device 114 a may be provided alink for the media content from the media content master repository 222of the second entity associated with the second node 102 b to startviewing the media content based on the dynamically acquired rights.

Upon acquisition of media content rights from the second participant 108b for consumption of media content item at the first consumer device 114a, the first node 102 a may be configured to transmit the media contentitem metadata to the first consumer device 114 a, as depicted by S11 inFIG. 1B. The first content consumer 110 a associated with the firstconsumer device 114 a and/or the at least first node 102 a may beconfigured to communicate the license request to the fourth node 102 x,as depicted by S12 in FIG. 1B, that corresponds to the DRM licensesystem owned by the second participant 108 b with the media content itemmetadata received from the first node 102 a upon selection to consumethe media content item.

The fourth node 102 x may be configured to verify the authenticity ofthe license request based on the comparison of the signature of thelicense request from the first participant 108 a with the one or morecryptographic keys. The fourth node 102 x may be further configured toverify that the media content rights exist on the distributed mediarights transaction ledger 104 for the first content consumer 110 a toconsume the media content item based on the instance of the distributedmedia rights transaction ledger 104 associated with the second node 102b. Based on the verification, the fourth node 102 x may be configured toissue the distributed media rights transaction to the distributed mediarights transaction ledger 104 within the communication network 106 ofacceptance of the license request and consumption of media content itemby the first content consumer 110 a. The fourth node 102 x may beconfigured to respond to the license request with the DRM-managed medialicense that enables consumption of the media content item, as depictedby S13 in FIG. 1B. Finally, the fourth node 102 x may be configured totransmit the DRM-managed media license to the first consumer device 114a that executes playback of the media content item by use of DRM-managedmedia license in specified manner consistent with DRM of media content,as depicted by S14 in FIG. 1B.

FIG. 2 depicts exemplary block diagrams for various systems of adistributed communication network 106 in the ecosystem 100 of FIG. 1A,in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. Withreference to FIG. 2, there are shown a gateway system 202, a contentdistributor system 206, a content owner system 204, and a media assetsmanagement system 224. The gateway system 202 may correspond to thefirst entity associated with the first node 102 a of the plurality ofnodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n described in FIG. 1A. Similarly, the contentowner system 204 may correspond to the second entity associated with thesecond node 102 b of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 ndescribed in FIG. 1A. Similarly, the content distributor system 206 maycorrespond to the third entity associated with the third node 102 c ofthe plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n described in FIG. 1A. Themedia assets management system 224 may correspond to an arbitrary nodeof the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n.

The gateway system 202 may include a first device 208 a, an applicationprogram 210, APIs 212, an alternate store 214 a, a unifiedlibrary/custom catalog 214 b, and a first instance of distributed mediarights transaction ledger 104. The content owner system 204 may includea second device 208 b, the application program 210, a media contentrights master repository 220, a media content master repository 222, anda third instance of distributed media rights transaction ledger 104. Thecontent owner system 204 is shown to be associated with a digital rightsmanagement (DRM) license node 102 x. The content distributor system 206may include a third device 208 c, the application program 210, a mediacontent rights repository 216, a media content repository 218, and asecond instance of distributed media rights transaction ledger 104.

The media assets management system 224 may include a content rightstracking system 226, an analytics system 228, an advertisementmanagement system 230, a viewer data repository 232, and an integratedlicense server 234. In some embodiments of the disclosure, the contentrights tracking system 226, the analytics system 228, the advertisementmanagement system 230, the viewer data repository 232, and theintegrated license server 234 may be integrated to form a singleintegrated system. In other embodiments of the disclosure, the varioussystems may be distinct. Other separation and/or combination of thevarious entities of the exemplary media assets management system 224illustrated in FIG. 2 may be done without departing from the scope ofthe disclosure.

The gateway system 202 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, andinterfaces that may be configured to execute code that is accessible tothe plurality of consumer devices 114 a, . . . , 114 n via the APIs 212.The APIs 212 allow content consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n to interactwith the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n in the communicationnetwork 106, with an entity, that may represent a streaming media andVOD service provider or a direct broadcast satellite service provider,that owns the gateway system 202 acting on behalf of the plurality ofconsumer devices 114 a, . . . , 114 n. The interaction may result inacquisition of media content rights for the plurality of consumerdevices 114 a, . . . , 114 n to consume media content and gathermetadata associated with available media content.

The first device 208 a may be owned by the gateway system 202 (or thefirst node 102 a) and configured to store the application program 210,the APIs 212, and the first instance of distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104. The first device 208 a may be further configuredto store or reference the alternate data store 214 a and the unifiedlibrary/custom catalog 214 b. The alternate data store 214 a may includea plurality of unique identities which may be represented as acryptographic value corresponding to each valid content consumer. Thealternate data store 214 a may be created using at least the distributedmedia rights transaction ledger 104, in which each new content consumerjoining the communication network 106 is recorded as a media contentrights transaction. A requesting content consumer is validated in casethe identity which may be represented as a cryptographic value of therequesting content consumer is found in the alternate data store 214 abased on a match of the identity hash value with one of the plurality ofunique identifiers stored in the alternate data store 214 a or the firstinstance of the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104.

The gateway system 202 may be configured to present metadata of multiplecontent libraries that may be owned by different entities, for example,different content owners, distributors, re-distributors, VOD serviceproviders, and the like, as the unified library/custom catalog 214 b forthe content consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n, to navigate. In this regard,the unified library/custom catalog 214 b may correspond to a collectionof media content belonging to one or more entities having media contentrights available for acquisition, distribution, and/or consumption.Further, the unified library/custom catalog 214 b may be identifiedprepared and presented on-the-fly specifically for a content consumer,such as the first content consumer 110 a, based on consumer behavior andconsumption pattern of the first content consumer 110 a, for playback.

Currently due to isolated content libraries and different subscriberbase, a narrow view of content consumers related to media consumptionpattern is available. The gateway system 202 may solve this problem bypresenting metadata of multiple content libraries as the unifiedlibrary/custom catalog 214 b. Based on the communication network 106, anindustry-wide network and ecosystem 100 is created, where anindustry-wide single sign-on for the content consumers 110 a, . . . ,110 n, may be provided by the gateway system 202 to navigate through anindustry-wide shared content library, where media content rights to maybe dynamically acquired, distributed, and enforced, by way of mediacontent rights transactions. Thus, previously untapped markets may beidentified, and un-monetized media content may be monetized by dynamicprovisioning of media content rights to an accepting entity. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the gateway system 202 may also includethe first instance of the distributed media rights transaction ledger104, and thus may also function as a node. This node or another nodeassociated with the same entity (e.g., a service provider that controlsor owns the gateway system 202) may be required to update correspondingdistributed media rights transaction ledger 104, in accordance with themedia content rights transactions proxied for each content consumer(i.e., playback of requested media contents, ad plays, content requests,and the like.) Such update may be broadcasted to other connected nodesof the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n for synchronization ofthe recently updated media content rights transaction in the distributedmedia rights transaction ledger 104 across the plurality of nodes 102 a,. . . , 102 n.

The content owner system 204 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, andinterfaces that may be configured to execute code to own a collection ofmedia content rights to be sold/distributed to content distributors,such as the second node 102 b, and/or content consumers, such as theplurality of content consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n. The content ownersystem 204 may be further configured to issue licenses to such contentconsumers for consumption of the media content. As illustrated in FIG.2, the content owner system 204 may own the second device 208 b that maybe configured to store the application program 210, the second instanceof the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104, the mediacontent rights master repository 220, and the media content masterrepository 222. The media content master repository 222 may be adatabase of media content or media assets that are owned by the contentowner system 204. The media assets may include uncompressed content,live content segments of one or more live feeds of channels, and/or VODcontent. Generally, the term “content,” “media,” “media assets” andsimilar words are used interchangeably to refer to any type ofmedia—audio, videos, datacasts, music, text, images, graphics, articles,photos, photo galleries, video galleries, infographics, maps, polls,guest biographies, tweets or other social media, blog posts, and/or thelike. The media content rights master repository 220 may be a databaseof media content rights associated with the media content, available fornegotiation. A media content right may be an electronic implementationof a legal contract designed to allow only authorized redistribution ofdigital media content and restrict the ways the media content isconsumed.

The DRM license node 102 x may correspond to a DRM license server formedia content (that belongs to the content owner system 204) stored inthe media content master repository 222. Metadata necessary to acquire alicense from the DRM license node 102 x associated with the contentowner system 204, may include, but is not limited to, a distributedmedia rights transaction ledger identifier representing a media content,a distributed media rights transaction ledger identifier of an entity(that belongs to, for example the gateway system 202) facilitating theconsumption of playback, and a distributed media rights transactionledger identifier representing a content consumer. Such identifiers maybe encrypted and hashed by the entity facilitating the consumption ofplayback, creating a cryptographic signature which may be used tovalidate the origin of the request.

The content distributor system 206 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to execute code toacquire media content rights to distribute the media content (that itdoes not own) to other content distributors and/or content consumers. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the content distributor system 206 mayact on content consumer's behalf. In accordance with an embodiment, thecontent distributor system 206 may also act as a content owner, intandem. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the content distributor system 206 mayown the third device 208 c that may be configured to store theapplication program 210, the second instance of the distributed mediarights transaction ledger 104, the media content rights repository 216,and the media content repository 218.

The media assets management system 224 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to execute code forbeing owned or managed by an entity and may operate at least one node ofthe plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n. In some embodiments, themedia assets management system 224 may be jointly owned or managed by agroup of entities in one country or multiple countries, where eachentity operates at least one node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . ., 102 n. In some embodiments, the media assets management system 224 maybe a public and open system, services of which may be partially orcompletely available to all the nodes of the plurality of nodes 102 a, .. . , 102 n in the communication network 106.

The content rights tracking system 226 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to execute code fortracking the media content rights or the flow of the media contentrights of one or more media assets among various participants of thecommunication network 106 using the distributed media rights transactionledger 104 maintained at each node. The content rights tracking system226 increases operational efficiencies in the digital media andtelevision content processing and digital rights management by allowingon-the-fly tracking of the media content rights or the flow of the mediacontent rights of one or more media assets among various participants ofthe communication network 106 using the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104.

The analytics system 228 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, andinterfaces that may be configured to execute code for identifying(on-the-fly) a custom catalog specifically for a content consumer, suchas the first content consumer 110 a. The analytics system 228 may befurther configured to prepare the custom catalog, and make available tothe first content consumer 110 a, via the gateway system 202. In someembodiments, the analytics system 228 may be configured to communicatethe identified custom catalog to a particular node of an entity or a setof nodes of different entities subscribed to services of the analyticssystem 228. Thereafter, a scheduler system (not shown) of at least onenode may be configured to prepare the custom catalog and make availableto the first content consumer 110 a. Similar to the first contentconsumer 110 a, based on behavior and consumption pattern of theplurality of content consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n, a custom catalogcomprising selected media assets, may be identified, prepared, andpresented to each of the plurality of content consumers 110 a, . . . ,110 n on respective plurality of consumer devices 114 a, . . . , 114 nfor media consumption.

The advertisement management system 230 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to execute code fordynamic insertion of pre-encoded VOD assets, or advertisement media, orother promotional media based on real-time data of media consumption ofa particular media asset via the gateway system 202. The real-time dataof media consumption may be received when a media content rightstransaction related to the media consumption of media content isdetected for a content consumer. In some embodiments, the advertisementmedia item (i.e., an ad) may be dynamically inserted at a specifiedposition in the media asset associated with a detected content placementopportunity (CPO). The insertion may be based on presence of an inboundtrigger, such as society of cable telecommunication engineers(SCTE)-104/35-based trigger, at the specified position associated withthe detected CPO. The manipulation of the catalogs or programmingschedules may be driven by real time or near-real time change in userconsumption behavior (that governs demand for particular type ofcontent).

The viewer data repository 232 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and interfaces that may be configured to execute code for storing anindustry-wide user behavioral data for the digital media and televisioncontent industry. The viewer data repository 232 may include individualconsumer-based information and aggregate audience-based information. Theindividual consumer-based information may include parameters, such asfavorite media assets, most preferred genre of media assets, mostwatched TV shows, and other content consumer-specific media preferences.The audience-based parameters may include calculated values derived byprocessing of media consumption data of a group of content consumerssegregated by age, region, and the like. The group of content consumersmay be associated with respective consumer devices of the plurality ofconsumer devices 114 a, . . . , 114 n. By use of the viewer datarepository 232, content development by an entity, such as contentowners, may target a known market with precision. The behavioral data ofthe content consumers may be shared among the entities, such as thecontent owners and the content distributors, without involvement of anythird-party that currently measures viewership data and sells such datato content owners and distributors at a premium/high (mark-up) cost.

The integrated license server 234 may correspond to an integrated DRMserver managed or shared by multiple entities. In some embodiments,content rights of certain media assets may be dynamically acquired fromthe plurality of different content owners using a single integratedlicense server, such as the integrated license server 234. In someembodiments, each entity, such as a content owner or a contentdistributor, may have their own DRM server to provide media contentrights. Further in some embodiments, media content rights may bedynamically and automatically generated and provided to the askingentity by the integrated license server 234 based on the agreedparameters in a final media content rights transaction.

FIGS. 3A and 3B collectively depict a flow chart illustrating exemplaryoperations for providing media content items to content consumers forplayback and consumption in the ecosystem 100 of FIG. 1A, in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. With reference to FIGS.3A and 3B, there are shown flowcharts 300A and 300B. Further, FIG. 4depicts a flow chart illustrating exemplary operations for validation ofan identity of a content consumer in a communication network of theecosystem 100 of FIG. 1A, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosure. With reference to FIG. 4, there is shown a flowchart400. FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 4 are described herein in conjunction with eachother.

At 302, login credentials provided by use of an app stored in the firstconsumer device 114 a of the first content consumer 110 a may bereceived. In accordance with an embodiment, a node, such as the firstnode 102 a, of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z may beconfigured to receive login credentials, such as a username and apassword, from the content consumer, such as the first content consumer110 a, via a consumer device, such as a first consumer device 114 a. Thefirst consumer device 114 a may provide the login credentials by use ofan app, for example, a mobile app or a TV app, stored in the firstcontent consumer 110 a.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first node 102 a may correspond tothe gateway system 202, such as the streaming media and VOD serviceprovider. In accordance with an embodiment, the request may be receivedby the node, such as first node 102 a, that is accessible to theplurality of consumer devices 114 a, . . . , 114 n, via the APIs 212.The APIs 212 may allow the plurality of content consumers 110 a, . . . ,110 n to interact with the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z inthe communication network 106.

In accordance with an embodiment, the content consumer such as the firstcontent consumer 110 a, associated with the first consumer device 114 a,may be a participant in the communication network 106 but may not berequired to operate a node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102z.

Referring to flowchart 400 in FIG. 4, at 402, a unique cryptographicidentifier may be derived from the login credentials of the firstcontent consumer 110 a. In accordance with an embodiment, the first node102 a may be configured to derive the unique cryptographic identifier,such as a unique string of alphanumeric characters of defined length,from the login credentials of the first content consumer 110 a by useof, for example a hashing algorithm, defined in the communicationnetwork 106. In accordance with various embodiments, the uniquecryptographic identifier may be a public key-private key pair, a uniqueidentifier, or a hash value corresponding to the first content consumer110 a.

At 404, it may be determined whether the unique cryptographic identifieris found in the alternate data store 214 a associated with the firstnode 102 a. The alternate data store 214 a may be created using at leastthe distributed media rights transaction ledger 104, in which each newcontent consumer joining the communication network 106 is recorded as amedia content rights transaction. In cases, where the uniquecryptographic identifier of the first content consumer 110 a is found inthe alternate data store 214 a, the control passes back to 304 inflowchart 300A of FIG. 3A, else to 406 in flowchart 400 of FIG. 4.

At 406, a validator system (not shown) may be checked based on thedistributed media rights transaction ledger 104. In accordance with anembodiment, the validator systems that may include entities that mayhave previously interacted with the first content consumer 110 a may bechecked using the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104. Thevalidator system may request validation of the identity of the firstcontent consumer 110 a from a prior owner, for example the directbroadcast satellite service provider, using the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104. When the first content consumer 110 a isinteracting through the first node 102 a (for example the gateway system202), which belongs to a given entity in the communication network 106,the first content consumer 110 a may be considered to be owned by thefirst node 102 a. This may secure the communication network 106 byensuring that: a) first content consumer 110 a media content rightstransactions adhere to the defined protocol as enforced by the proxyingnode, for example the first node 102 a; b) the entity, for example thegateway system 202, assumes responsibility over media content rightstransactions requested by the first content consumer 110 a; and c)another entity, such as the validator system, may request to validatethe identity of the first content consumer 110 a from a prior owner, forexample another gateway system, using the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104.

At 408, it may be determined whether a validator is present for theunique cryptographic identifier using the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104. In an embodiment, a validator is found for theunique cryptographic identifier of the first content consumer 110 ausing the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104, and thecontrol passes back to 304 in flowchart 300A of FIG. 3A, else to 410.

At 410, the first content consumer 110 a may be invalidated. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the first node 102 a may invalidate thefirst content consumer 110 a and deny an access to the communicationnetwork 106.

Referring to flowchart 300A in FIG. 3A, at 304, the first contentconsumer 110 a may be validated. In accordance with an embodiment, thefirst node 102 a may be configured to validate the first contentconsumer 110 a based on the existence of the unique cryptographicidentifier of the first content consumer 110 a in the alternate datastore 214 a of the first node 102 a or the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104. In accordance with an embodiment, the first node102 a may be configured to validate the first content consumer 110 abased on the presence of the validator for the unique cryptographicidentifier of the first content consumer 110 a. Control passes to 306for such validation of the first content consumer 110 a.

At 306, media content playback request, corresponding to media contentselection from the first content consumer 110 a via the first consumerdevice 114 a, may be received. In accordance with an embodiment, thefirst node 102 a may be configured to receive media content playbackrequest, corresponding to media content selection, from the firstcontent consumer 110 a via the first consumer device 114 a. The firstcontent consumer 110 a via the first consumer device 114 a may selectthe media content to generate the request for playback of the mediacontent for consumption.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first content consumer 110 arequests the first node 102 a of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . ,102 z for the media content from a plurality of media content items. Inone case, the plurality of media content items may include a first mediacontent that the first node 102 a and/or the first content consumer 110a has media content rights to. In another case, the plurality of mediacontent items may include a second media content owned by the secondparticipant 108 b associated with the second node 102 b. In such a case,the first participant 108 a associated with the first node 102 a doesnot have media content rights for redistribution of the second mediacontent. In fact, the second participant 108 b has redistribution mediacontent rights, in absence of the media content rights with the firstparticipant 108 a or the first content consumer 110 a, as furtherdescribed below. In such case, the second node 102 b of the plurality ofnodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z associated with the second participant 108 b,which owns the requested media content, is configured to provide themedia content rights associated with the requested media content to thefirst participant 108 a and/or the content consumer, such as the firstcontent consumer 110 a.

Hereinafter, ‘the first media content’, and ‘the second media content’may be referred to as ‘the media content’.

At 308, availability of the media content rights associated with theselected media content may be determined in the unified library/customcatalog 214 b owned by the first node 102 a. The unified library/customcatalog 214 b may correspond to a collection of media content belongingto one or more entities having media content rights available foracquisition, distribution, and/or consumption. In accordance with anembodiment, first content consumer 110 a may provide a selection of anew media content which is not presented by the unified library/customcatalog 214 b. For example, the unified library/custom catalog 214 b mayinclude media content that is previously purchased by the first contentconsumer 110 a (for example, iTunes®), media content owned the firstnode 102 a (for example Netflix®), media content for which the firstnode 102 a (for example Netflix®) has rights to redistribute, and mediacontent (for example media content from Disney®) for which the firstnode 102 a (for example Netflix®) does not have media content rights.

At 310, it may be determined whether the media content rights(associated with selected media content) are available. In accordancewith an embodiment, the first node 102 a may determine whether the mediacontent rights (associated with selected media content) are available inthe unified library/custom catalog 214 b owned by the first node 102 a.In this regard, it may be determined whether the first content consumer110 a or the first entity associated with the first node 102 a have anaccess to the media content rights associated with the selected mediacontent in the unified library/custom catalog 214 b owned by the firstnode 102 a.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first node 102 a may determinethat the media content rights (associated with selected media content)are available in the unified library/custom catalog 214 b. Accordingly,the control passes to 322. In accordance with another embodiment, thefirst node 102 a may determine that the media content rights (associatedwith selected media content) are not available in the unifiedlibrary/custom catalog 214 b. Accordingly, the control passes to 312.

At 322, when the media content rights associated with the selected mediacontent are available at the first node 102 a, the media content may beselected from the unified library/custom catalog 214 b provided by thefirst node 102 a. In this regard, the first content consumer 110 a mayselect the media content from the unified library/custom catalog 214 bidentified, prepared, and presented by first node 102 a. The firstentity who owns the gateway node, such as the first node 102 a, may acton behalf of the first content consumer 110 a to acquire the mediacontent rights to consume the media content and gather metadataassociated with the available media content.

At 312, it may be determined whether the media content rights(associated with selected media content) are available with the secondentity or the third entity. In accordance with another embodiment, thefirst node 102 a may determine that the media content rights (associatedwith selected media content) are available with the second entity, forexample the content owner system 204, associated with the second node102 b. Accordingly, control passes to 314 a. In accordance with anembodiment, the first node 102 a may determine that the media contentrights (associated with selected media content) are available with thethird entity, for example the content distributor system 206, associatedwith the third node 102 c. Accordingly, control passes to 314 b.

At 314 a, the media content rights may be acquired from the secondentity associated with the second node 102 b configured to directlyprovide the media content rights to the first content consumer 110 a. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the first node 102 a may be configured toacquire the media content rights from the second entity associated withthe second node 102 b (that may directly provide the media contentrights) by negotiating with the second entity associated with the secondnode 102 b that owns the media content and associated media contentrights. In this regard, the first content consumer 110 a may consume themedia content directly from the second entity associated with the secondnode 102 b via the first node 102 a. Thus, the first entity associatedwith the first node 102 a of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 ninteracts with the corresponding instance of the distributed mediarights transaction ledger 104 in the communication network 106, may acton behalf of the first content consumer 110 a to acquire one or moremedia content rights for consumption of the media content by the firstconsumer device 114 a.

At 314 b, the media content rights may be dynamically acquired from thethird entity associated with the third node 102 c configured toredistribute the media content rights to the first content consumer 110a. In accordance with an embodiment, the first node 102 a may beconfigured to dynamically acquire the media content rights from thethird entity associated with the third node 102 c (that may redistributethe media content rights to the first content consumer 110 a) bynegotiating with the third entity associated with the third node 102 cthat has the media content rights to redistribute. In accordance with anembodiment, the first entity associated with the first node 102 a may beconfigured to acquire the media content rights from the third entityassociated with the third node 102 c when the first content consumer 110a or the first entity associated with the first node 102 a do not havean access of media content rights associated with the selected mediacontent. In such embodiment, the third entity (such as a contentdistributor) associated with the third node 102 c may have media contentrights to distribute (or re-distribute) the first media asset,previously acquired from a second entity (such as a content owner)associated with the second node 102 b. Thus, the first entity associatedwith the first node 102 a of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 ninteracts with the corresponding instance of the distributed mediarights transaction ledger 104 in the communication network 106, may acton behalf of the first content consumer 110 a to acquire one or moremedia content rights for consumption of the media content by the firstconsumer device 114 a.

At 316, the media content rights may be negotiated for, based oninteraction between nodes from the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102z in accordance with defined protocol in the communication network 106.In accordance with an embodiment, the first entity associated with thefirst node 102 a may be configured to negotiate with the second entityassociated with the second node 102 b or the first entity associatedwith the third node 102 c for acquisition of the media content rights,based on interaction between nodes from plurality of nodes 102 a, . . ., 102 z in accordance with defined protocol in the communication network106.

As described in FIG. 1A, each node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . .. , 102 n may be associated with a corresponding entity, such as acontent owner or a content distributor, from the plurality of entities108 a, . . . , 108 n. In accordance with an embodiment, the first node102 a may be configured to create at least one media content rightstransaction with one or more nodes, such as the second node 102 b or thethird node 102 c of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n. The oneor more nodes may further cryptographically secure transaction data ofthe at least one media content rights transaction, which is stored incorresponding instance of the distributed media rights transactionledger 104. In accordance with an embodiment, the one or more nodes maydigitally sign the hash transaction data with a private key of a privatekey—public key pair, and share a public key of the private key—publickey pair with remaining nodes of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . ,102 n and maintains the private key as a secret key.

The one or more media content rights transactions may comprise at leastone of a cryptographic signature of an originating entity associatedwith a corresponding node, another cryptographic signature of arecipient entity, identities of the one or more media content rights fora specific media content, negotiated terms of the one or more mediacontent rights, identities of one or more participants, disparate livemedia output stream for consumption by a content consumer and/orpre-encoded media asset, a descriptor for an intent of a media contentrights transaction, an encrypted summary of a set of transactions, oneor more cryptographic signatures of historic transactions from thedistributed media rights transaction ledger to link at least twotransactions, and a cryptographic hash of transaction data. Inaccordance with an embodiment, each of the plurality of media contentrights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n may be categorized based on anannouncement of a newly created entity, an announcement of a newlycreated content consumer, an announcement of a newly available mediacontent, an acquisition of the one or more media content rights, and/ora consumption of the media content by a content consumer. In accordancewith an embodiment, an invalid transaction may be added to thedistributed media rights transaction ledger 104, remains invalid, andserves as a historical record of origin of invalid transactions.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first node 102 a of the pluralityof nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n may be configured to manage at least onemedia content rights transaction of a plurality of media content rightstransactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n with remaining nodes, such as the oneor more nodes of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n. Theplurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n maybe managed by the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n in accordancewith the defined protocol in the communication network 106.

In accordance with an embodiment, the plurality of media content rightstransactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n may originate from a node, for examplethe first node 102 a of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n, andfacilitate exchange of data with one or more nodes, such as the secondnode 102 b or the third node 102 c, in the communication network 106.

In accordance with various embodiments, a node of the plurality of nodes102 a, . . . , 102 n may be further configured to verify one or moremedia content rights transactions of the plurality of media contentrights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n communicated by the one or moreremaining nodes of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n. Further,the node may reject a set of invalid media content rights transactionsfrom the one or more media content rights transactions 112 a, . . . ,112 n. Furthermore, the node may create new media content rightstransactions on behalf of at least one of a content consumer, contentdistributor, or content owner, and communicate the new media contentrights transactions to the one or more remaining nodes where such newmedia content rights transactions may be stored in correspondinginstances of the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104. Inthis regard, a receiving entity, such as the second and the thirdentities, may be responsible for cryptographically securing the entireset of media content rights transactions associated with the negotiationof media content rights, for example as a summary hash. The receivingentity may sign the summary has with its private key (of the sameprivate key—public key pair used throughout the communication network106 for corresponding entity). The receiving entity may be configured tocollect the summary hash and broadcast as media content rightstransaction to the entire communication network 106 to be added as a newmedia content rights transaction on the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104. The entities participating in the media contentrights negotiations may elect to encrypt the details of the negotiationsequence to obscure the parameters of the final media content rightstransaction from the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104.

In accordance with an embodiment, the node may be further configured toenforce a plurality of constraints associated with the one or more mediacontent rights defined in at least one transaction of the plurality ofmedia content rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n for a participantto acquire, distribute, or consume content associated with the one ormore media content rights. Examples of the plurality of constraints mayinclude, but are not limited to date/time range restriction of playbackand/or length of media content rights transferal, rights transferal tospecific receiving entity and/or restricted content consumers, number oftimes playback is allowed, possibility to transfer playback right toanother content consumer or entity, downloading/offline access of mediacontent rights and/or playback restrictions, whether sending andreceiving entities can watch the media content simultaneously or ifmutually exclusive rights transferal is permitted wherein only one party(i.e., either sending or receiving entities) can watch the media contentat any moment in time, consumer device-related restrictions (for examplemobile only, and no TVs allowed), and/or media content qualityrestrictions (for example, high definition is not available). Inaccordance with an embodiment, the node may be further configured toenforce an adherence of known nodes to the protocol by refusing oraccepting to communicate with the known nodes of the plurality of nodes102 a, . . . , 102 n.

In accordance with an embodiment, the node, such as the first node 102a, may be further configured to create respective private channels tocommunicate private transactions between one or more entities via nodes,such as the second node 102 b or the third node 102 c. Each node mayrepresent at least one participant on the communication network 106based on signed transactions originated from the node with acryptographic signature of corresponding participant. In accordance withan embodiment, the node may be further configured to determine one ormore new nodes which join the communication network 106 within a definedtime period, and communicate information associated with the pluralityof nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n to the one or more new nodes.

At 318, the plurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . ., 112 n may be stored in corresponding instances of the distributedmedia rights transaction ledger 104 maintained by each node within thecommunication network 106 for validation and synchronization. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the plurality of media content rightstransactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n may be stored in correspondinginstances of the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104maintained by each node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 nwithin the communication network 106 for validation and synchronization.Each instance of the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 mayinclude the plurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . ., 112 n categorized and defined based on the defined protocol. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the one or more nodes of the plurality ofnodes 102 a, . . . 102 n associated with the plurality of participants108 a, . . . , 108 n and 110 a, . . . , 110 n may be configured to storethe plurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 nin corresponding instances of the distributed media rights transactionledger 104 maintained by each node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . .. , 102 n within the communication network 106 for validation andsynchronization. In this regard, each node may append its own mediacontent right transactions as well as media content right transactionsfrom other nodes in its own instance of the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104.

In accordance with various embodiments, the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104 may be configured to maintain, across theplurality of participants 108 a, . . . , 108 n and 110 a, . . . , 110 n,a validated state of the one or more media content rights granted. Thedistributed media rights transaction ledger 104 may maintain a securedand validated historical record of consumption of the media content bythe plurality of content consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n, and maintainsecured and validated identities of the plurality of participants 108 a,. . . , 108 n and 110 a, . . . , 110 n. The distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104 may further maintain a history of constraints foracquisition, distribution, consumption, and transfer of ownership of theone or more media content rights. The distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104 may further maintain a history of negotiationsvia a sequence of media content rights transactions which occur betweenat least two participants of the plurality of participants 108 a, . . ., 108 n and 110 a, . . . , 110 n.

In accordance with an embodiment, data for the plurality of mediacontent rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n for the distributedmedia rights transaction ledger 104 may be synchronized across theplurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n in the communication network106. Thus, the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 may besecured to ensure integrity of data shared across the plurality of nodes102 a, . . . , 102 n. In accordance with an embodiment, the at least onenode of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 n may be furtherconfigured to maintain a corresponding instance of the distributed mediarights transaction ledger 104 and communicate the corresponding instanceof the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 to the one ormore remaining nodes upon request.

At 320, the media content rights may be provided to the first consumerdevice 114 a based on the dynamically provided media content rights. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the first node 102 a may be configured toprovide the media content rights acquired from the second node 102 b orthe third node 102 c to the first consumer device 114 a. In accordancewith an embodiment, the media player of the first consumer device 114 amay be provided a link of the media content from the media contentmaster repository 222 of the second entity associated with the secondnode 102 b to start viewing the media content based on the dynamicallyacquired media content rights.

At 324, media content item metadata may be transmitted to the firstconsumer device 114 a, upon acquisition of media content rights from thesecond participant 108 b for consumption of media content item at thefirst consumer device 114 a. In accordance with an embodiment, the firstnode 102 a may be configured to transmit the media content item metadatato the first consumer device 114 a, upon acquisition of media contentrights from the second participant 108 b for consumption of mediacontent item at the first consumer device 114 a.

The transmitted media content metadata may comprise at least one or moreconstraints associated with the consumption of the media content, alocation of the fourth node 102 x of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . ., 102 z that corresponds to a DRM license system integrated with thesecond participant 108 b associated with the second node 102 b, andmetadata required to acquire the DRM-managed media license from thefourth node 102 x. The one or more constraints may limit the firstconsumer device 114 a to consume the media content. In this regard, theone or more constraints associated with the consumption of the mediacontent, may enable the first consumer device 114 a to alter behaviorbased on the one or more constraints. Examples of the one or moreconstraints may include, but are not limited to, date and time rangerestriction of the playback of the media content, a number of times theplayback is allowed, a possibility to transfer playback rights toanother participant, and downloading or offline playback restriction.

The transmitted media content metadata may further comprise location ofthe fourth node 102 x, which is associated with the second participant108 b, a first distributed ledger identifier that represents the mediacontent, a second distributed ledger identifier of the first participant108 a that facilitates the consumption of the media content, and a thirddistributed ledger identifier that represents the first content consumer110 a. The first distributed ledger identifier, the second distributedledger identifier, and the third distributed ledger identifier may beencrypted and hashed. Accordingly, a cryptographic signature may becreated based on the encrypted and hashed first distributed ledgeridentifier, the second distributed ledger identifier, and the thirddistributed ledger identifier. The cryptographic signature may beutilized to validate an origin of the media content playback request.

At 326, a license request may be communicated to the fourth node 102 xthat corresponds to a DRM license system owned by the second participant108 b with the media content item metadata received from the first node102 a upon selection to consume the media content item. In accordancewith an embodiment, the first content consumer 110 a associated with thefirst consumer device 114 a and/or the at least first node 102 a may beconfigured to communicate the license request to the fourth node 102 xthat corresponds to the DRM license system owned by the secondparticipant 108 b with the media content item metadata received from thefirst node 102 a upon selection to consume the media content item.

At 328, authenticity of the license request may be verified based oncomparison of signature of the license request from the firstparticipant 108 a with one or more cryptographic keys. In accordancewith an embodiment, the fourth node 102 x may be configured to verifythe authenticity of the license request based on the comparison of thesignature of the license request from the first participant 108 a withthe one or more cryptographic keys. Such verification of theauthenticity of the license request may ensure that the license requestis received from a valid first content consumer 110 a, or a valid firstparticipant 108 a, or both.

At 330, existence of the media content rights on the distributed mediarights transaction ledger 104 may be verified for the first contentconsumer 110 a to consume the media content item based on usage ofinstance of the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104associated with the second node 102 b. In accordance with an embodiment,the fourth node 102 x may be configured to verify that the media contentrights exist on the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 forthe first content consumer 110 a to consume the media content item basedon usage of instance of the distributed media rights transaction ledger104 associated with the second node 102 b.

In this regard, the fourth node 102 x may verify that media contentrights exist on the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 forthe first content consumer 110 a to consume the selected media content,using the second instance of the distributed media rights transactionledger 104. Since the first content consumer 110 a is owned by the firstparticipant 108 a, that acquired the media content rights for the firstcontent consumer 110 a, there should be a valid media content rightstransaction on the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 toverify the same. It may be noted that the second node 102 b utilizes itsown copy, i.e. the second instance, of the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104, that includes the media content rightstransactions validated by the second node 102 b itself to ensuresecurity.

For such verification of the existence of the media content rights onthe distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 for the firstcontent consumer 110 a, the fourth node 102 x may be configured totraverse a first plurality of records of media content rights thatbelong to the first content consumer 110 a for the selected mediacontent. The fourth node 102 x may be further configured to determine aset of restrictions that exist for the playback of the media content.The fourth node 102 x may be further configured to traverse a secondplurality of records of the first participant 108 a and/or the secondparticipant 108 b that distributed the media content rights to the firstcontent consumer 110 a for consumption and ensure that no restrictionsexist for the first content consumer 11 a to continue to consume themedia content.

At 332, a distributed media rights transaction may be issued to thecommunication network 106 of acceptance of the license request andconsumption of media content item by the first content consumer 110 a.In accordance with an embodiment, the fourth node 102 x may beconfigured to issue the distributed media rights transaction to thecommunication network 106 of acceptance of the license request andconsumption of media content item by the first content consumer 110 a.

In accordance with various embodiments, the fourth node 102 x may befurther configured to issue the distributed media rights transaction tothe communication network 106 of the acceptance of the license requestand consumption of the media content by the first content consumer 110 asuch that a history of the consumption of the media content by the firstcontent consumer 110 a is recorded on the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104. Further, a history of the first participant 108a who facilitated the consumption of the media content for the firstcontent consumer 110 a is recorded on the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104. Furthermore, an audit trail of the consumptionof the media content is recorded on the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104.

At 334, the license request may be responded to with DRM-managed medialicense that enables consumption of media content item. In accordancewith an embodiment, the fourth node 102 x may be configured to respondto the license request with the DRM-managed media license that enablesconsumption of the media content item.

In accordance with an embodiment, the DRM-managed media license mayinclude one or more constraints according to DRM of the media content inaccordance with a set of restrictions of the media content rights of thefirst content consumer 110 a to consume the media content. SuchDRM-managed media license including the one or more constraints mayenforce concise rules, including download ability, date range of theplayback of the media content, and frequency of the playback of themedia content.

At 336, the DRM-managed media license may be transmitted to the firstconsumer device 114 a that executes playback of the media content itemby use of DRM-managed media license in specified manner consistent withDRM of media content. In accordance with an embodiment, the fourth node102 x may be configured to transmit the DRM-managed media license to thefirst consumer device 114 a that executes playback of the media contentitem by use of DRM-managed media license in specified manner consistentwith DRM of media content.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for a system employing a processing system for providingmedia content items to content consumers for playback and consumption,in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. Referringto FIG. 5, the hardware implementation shown by a representation 500 forthe ecosystem 100 employs a processing system 502 for providing mediacontent items to content consumers for playback and consumption, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, as describedherein.

In some examples, the processing system 502 may comprise one or morehardware processors 504, a non-transitory computer-readable medium 506,a bus 508, a bus interface 510, and a transceiver 512. FIG. 5 furtherillustrates the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z, the distributedmedia rights transaction ledger 104, the plurality of entities 108 a, .. . , 108 n, and the plurality of media content rights transactions 112a, . . . , 112 n, as described in detail in FIG. 1A.

The hardware processor 504 may be configured to manage the bus 508 andgeneral processing, including the execution of a set of instructionsstored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium 506. The set ofinstructions, when executed by the hardware processor 504, causes theecosystem 100 to execute the various functions described herein for anyparticular apparatus. The hardware processor 504 may be implemented,based on a number of processor technologies known in the art. Examplesof the hardware processor 504 may be a Reduced Instruction Set Computing(RISC) processor, an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, and/orother processors or control circuits.

The non-transitory computer-readable medium 506 may be used for storingdata that is manipulated by the hardware processor 504 when executingthe set of instructions. The data is stored for short periods or in thepresence of power. The non-transitory computer-readable medium 506 mayalso be configured to store data for the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . ., 102 z, the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104, theplurality of entities 108 a, . . . , 108 n, and the plurality of mediacontent rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n.

The bus 508 is configured to link together various circuits. In thisexample, the ecosystem 100 employing the processing system 502 and thenon-transitory computer-readable medium 506 may be implemented with busarchitecture, represented generally by bus 508. The bus 508 may includeany number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on thespecific implementation of the ecosystem 100 and the overall designconstraints. The bus interface 510 may be configured to provide aninterface between the bus 508 and other circuits, such as, transceiver512, and external devices, such as the plurality of consumer devices 114a, . . . , 114 n associated with respective content consumers of theplurality of content consumers 110 a, . . . , 110 n.

The transceiver 512 may be configured to provide a communication of thecommunication network 106 with various other apparatus, such as theplurality of consumer devices 114 a, . . . , 114 n associated withrespective content consumers of the plurality of content consumers 110a, . . . , 110 n, via the network 116. The transceiver 512 maycommunicate via wireless communication with networks, such as theInternet, the Intranet and/or a wireless network, such as a cellulartelephone network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) and/or ametropolitan area network (MAN). The wireless communication may use anyof a plurality of communication standards, protocols and technologies,such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSMEnvironment (EDGE), Long Term Evolution (LTE), wideband code divisionmultiple access (W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), timedivision multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi)(such as IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n),voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and/or Wi-MAX.

It should be recognized that, in some embodiments of the disclosure, oneor more components of FIG. 5 may include software whose correspondingcode may be executed by at least one processor, for across multipleprocessing environments. For example, the plurality of nodes 102 a, . .. , 102 z, the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104, theplurality of entities 108 a, . . . , 108 n, and the plurality of mediacontent rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n, may include softwarethat may be executed across a single or multiple processingenvironments.

In an aspect of the disclosure, the hardware processor 504, thenon-transitory computer-readable medium 506, or a combination of bothmay be configured or otherwise specially programmed to execute theoperations or functionality of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102z, the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104, the plurality ofentities 108 a, . . . , 108 n, and the plurality of media content rightstransactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n, or various other components describedherein, as described with respect to FIGS. 1A to 4.

Various embodiments of the disclosure comprise the ecosystem 100 thatmay be configured to establish a network of nodes and participants fordynamic management of media content rights. In an embodiment, theecosystem 100 may comprise a plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 zconfigured to interact with each other in accordance with a definedprotocol in the communication network 106. The ecosystem 100 may includeplurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z configured to interact with eachother in accordance with a defined protocol in the communication network106. The first node 102 a of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 zassociated with the first participant 108 a may be configured to receivea request for playback of a media content from a content consumer, suchas the first content consumer 110 a, associated with a consumer device,such as the first consumer device 114 a. The second node 102 b of theplurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z may be associated with thesecond participant 108 b, which owns the requested media content. Thesecond participant 108 b may be configured to provide media contentrights associated with the requested media content to the firstparticipant 108 a and/or the content consumer, such as the first contentconsumer 110 a. The first node 102 a may be further configured toprovide a media content metadata to the first consumer device 114 a forconsumption by the first consumer device 114 a. A plurality of instancesof the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104 may be associatedwith a respective node of the plurality of the nodes 102 a, . . . , 102z. The media content metadata may be received from an instance of theplurality of instances of the distributed media rights transactionledger. Each instance of the distributed media rights transaction ledger104 may include a plurality of media content rights transactionscorresponding to at least an acquisition of the media content rights bythe first participant 108 a and/or first content consumer 110 a prior tothe consumption of the media content at the first consumer device 114 a.The plurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 nmay be categorized and defined based on the defined protocol. Theplurality of media content rights transactions 112 a, . . . 112 n may bemanaged by the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z in accordancewith the defined protocol in the communication network 106.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first content consumer 110 a mayrequest the first node of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 zfor the media content from a plurality of media content items. The firstcontent consumer 110 a may select the media content from the pluralityof media content items for consumption at the first consumer device 114a.

In accordance with an embodiment, the plurality of media content itemsmay include first media content that the first participant 108 a and/orthe first content consumer 110 a has media content rights to, or secondmedia content owned by the second participant 108 b associated with thesecond node 102 b. The first participant 108 a associated with the firstnode 102 a does not have media content rights for redistribution of thesecond media content.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first participant 108 a associatedwith the first node 102 a may be further configured to acquire the mediacontent rights to redistribute to the first content consumer 110 a basedon negotiation with the second participant 108 b associated with thesecond node 102 b of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z. Thesecond participant 108 b has redistribution media content rights, inabsence of the media content rights with the first participant 108 a orthe first content consumer 110 a.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first node 102 a may be furtherconfigured to transmit the media content metadata to the first consumerdevice 114 a, upon acquisition of the media content rights from thesecond participant 108 b for the consumption of the media content at thefirst consumer device 114 a. The transmitted media content metadatacomprises at least one or more constraints associated with theconsumption of the media content, a location of a fourth node 102 x ofthe plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z that corresponds to a DRMlicense system integrated with the second participant 108 b associatedwith the second node 102 b, and metadata required to acquire aDRM-managed media license from the fourth node 102 x.

In accordance with an embodiment, the one or more constraints may limitthe first consumer device 114 a to consume the media content. The one ormore constraints may comprise at least date and time range restrictionof the playback of the media content, a number of times the playback isallowed, a possibility to transfer playback rights to anotherparticipant, and downloading or offline playback restriction. The mediacontent metadata may comprise at least a first distributed ledgeridentifier that represents the media content, a second distributedledger identifier of the first participant that facilitates theconsumption of the media content, and a third distributed ledgeridentifier that represents the first content consumer 110 a.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first participant 108 a thatfacilitates the consumption of the media content, may be furtherconfigured to encrypt and hash the first distributed ledger identifier,the second distributed ledger identifier, and the third distributedledger identifier. Further, the first participant 108 a may create acryptographic signature utilized to validate an origin of the requestfor the playback of the media content based on the encrypted and hashedfirst distributed ledger identifier, the second distributed ledgeridentifier, and the third distributed ledger identifier.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first consumer device 114 a and/orthe at least first node 102 a may communicate a license request to thefourth node 102 x of the plurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z thatcorresponds to a digital rights management (DRM) license system owned bythe second participant 108 b with the metadata received from the firstnode 102 a, upon selection to consume the media content.

In accordance with an embodiment, based on the receipt of the licenserequest from the first consumer device 114 a, the fourth node 102 x maybe configured to verify authenticity of the license request based oncomparison of a signature of the license request from the firstparticipant 108 a with one or more cryptographic keys, verify that themedia content rights exist on the distributed media rights transactionledger 104 for the first content consumer 110 a to consume the mediacontent based on usage of an instance of the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104 associated with the second node 102 b, issue amedia content rights transaction to the communication network 106 of anacceptance of the license request and consumption of the media contentby the first content consumer 110 a, and respond to the license requestwith the DRM-managed media license that enables the consumption of themedia content.

In accordance with an embodiment, the fourth node 102 x may be furtherconfigured to verify the existence of the media content rights on thedistributed media rights transaction ledger 104 for the first contentconsumer 110 a by at least (1) traversal of a first plurality of recordsof media content rights that belong to the first content consumer 110 afor a selected media content, (2) determination of a set of restrictionsthat exist for the playback of the media content, and (3) traversal of asecond plurality of records of the first participant 108 a and/or thesecond participant 108 b that distributed the media content rights tothe first content consumer 110 a for consumption, and ensure that norestrictions exist for the first content consumer 110 a to continue toconsume the media content.

In accordance with an embodiment, the fourth node 102 x may be furtherconfigured to issue the transaction to the communication network 106 ofthe acceptance of the license request and consumption of the mediacontent by the first content consumer 110 a such that (1) a history ofthe consumption of the media content by the first content consumer 110 ais recorded on the distributed media rights transaction ledger 104, (2)a history of the first participant 108 a who facilitated the consumptionof the media content for the first content consumer 110 a is recorded onthe distributed media rights transaction ledger 104, and (3) an audittrail of consumption of the media content is recorded on the distributedmedia rights transaction ledger 104.

In accordance with an embodiment, the DRM-managed media license mayinclude one or more constraints according to DRM of the media content inaccordance with a set of restrictions of the media content rights of thefirst content consumer 110 a to consume the media content.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first content consumer 110 a mayreceive the DRM-managed media license and execute the playback of themedia content by use of DRM-managed media license in a specified mannerconsistent with the DRM of the media content.

In accordance with an embodiment, the communication network 106 may be adistributed communication network.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide a computer-readablemedium, such as the non-transitory computer-readable medium 506, havingstored thereon, computer-implemented instruction that when executed bythe processor 504 causes the ecosystem 100 to establish a network ofnodes and participants for dynamic management of media content rights.In accordance with an embodiment, the processor 504 causes the ecosystem100 to execute operations to a configure the plurality of nodes 102 a, .. . , 102 z to interact with each other in accordance with a definedprotocol in the communication network 106. The first node 102 a of theplurality of nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z associated with the firstparticipant 108 a may be configured to receive a request for playback ofa media content from a content consumer, such as the first contentconsumer 110 a, associated with a consumer device, such as the firstconsumer device 114 a. The second node 102 b of the plurality of nodes102 a, . . . , 102 z may be associated with the second participant 108b, which owns the requested media content. The second participant 108 bmay be configured to provide media content rights associated with therequested media content to the first participant 108 a and/or thecontent consumer, such as the first content consumer 110 a. The firstnode 102 a may be further configured to provide a media content metadatato the first consumer device 114 a for consumption by the first consumerdevice 114 a. A plurality of instances of the distributed media rightstransaction ledger 104 may be associated with a respective node of theplurality of the nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z. The media content metadatamay be received from an instance of the plurality of instances of thedistributed media rights transaction ledger. Each instance of thedistributed media rights transaction ledger 104 may include a pluralityof media content rights transactions corresponding to at least anacquisition of the media content rights by the first participant 108 aand/or first content consumer 110 a prior to the consumption of themedia content at the first consumer device 114 a. The plurality of mediacontent rights transactions 112 a, . . . , 112 n may be categorized anddefined based on the defined protocol. The plurality of media contentrights transactions 112 a, . . . 112 n may be managed by the pluralityof nodes 102 a, . . . , 102 z in accordance with the defined protocol inthe communication network 106.

Managing the content rights of millions of media assets, by thousands ofcontent owners, content distributors, and tracking a flow of contentrights from one entity to other entity, in a secure manner is aherculean task. Currently, content rights clearance and negotiations arevery time consuming, and backed by readily accessible/usable data.Further, multiple content libraries by various entities, requireseparate subscriptions and make it difficult for users to navigate tocontent of their choice freely without having individual subscription.Further, third party measurement of viewership of a content item, arecostly. There is no mechanism to precisely track content rights androyalties for various entities. Further, isolated content catalogs andthird-party dependencies to estimate viewership for a content item, suchas a TV show, to plan for future advertisement inventory needs andobligations, increase complexities. This in turn increases re-work andrequires installation of large infrastructures and resources to maintainuninterrupted content delivery for existing channel and limits theability of the broadcast or network provider to change content, providecustomized content in real time or near-real time. Existing systems havebeen largely ignored by the industry short of a basic “allow/reject”playback of media content.

The disclosed system and method for dynamic acquisition,re-distribution, enforcement, and tracking of content rights of mediaassets, has several advantages, for example, a) Providing tokenized andsecure content licenses for a media asset; b) Ease-of-use and sharing ofcatalogs, revenue, content rights makes pirating unjustified; c) contentdistributors are able to dynamically acquire rights from content ownersand pass on the rights to the consumers in real time or near real-time;d) instant user-targeted catalogs may be identified and prepared andpushed to apps, such as a mobile app or a TV app, at consumer devices;e) the ecosystem provides a platform for creation of a marketplace wherenew media markets, such as a content trading market may emerge; f)content development is user-driven/user-funded; g) digital currency, forexample, digital crypto-currencies, may be used easily in network due tothe inherent framework of network; h) enables instant settlements usingthe distributed media rights transaction ledger; and i) simplified,secured, real time, ensured, and fail-safe tracking of media contentrights among various participants of the ecosystem.

The disclosed system and method, based on DRM-managed media licenses,may enforce much concise rules, that may include, but are not limitedto, download ability, date range of playback, and frequency of mediaplayback. Further, a media content rights transaction is issued to thenode network (to be added to the distributed media rights transactionledger) of the acceptance of the license request and consumption of themedia content by content consumer, based on verification of theauthenticity of the license request, and verification that media contentrights exist on the distributed media transaction ledger for the contentconsumer to consume the media content. This may add additional layers ofsecurity to the ecosystem.

As utilized herein the terms “circuits” and “circuitry” refer tophysical electronic components (for example, hardware) and any softwareand/or firmware (“code”) which may configure the hardware, be executedby the hardware, and/or otherwise be associated with the hardware. Asused herein, for example, a particular processor and memory may comprisea first “circuit” when executing first one or more lines of code and maycomprise a second “circuit” when executing second one or more lines ofcode. As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items inthe list joined by “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means anyelement of the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example,“x, y, and/or z” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y),(z), (x, y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the term“exemplary” means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, orillustration. As utilized herein, the terms “e.g.,” and “for example”set off lists of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, orillustrations. As utilized herein, circuitry is “operable” to perform afunction whenever the circuitry comprises the necessary hardware and/orcode (if any is necessary) to perform the function, regardless ofwhether performance of the function is disabled, or not enabled, by someuser-configurable setting.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of embodiments ofthe disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the”are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the contextclearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that theterms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes” and/or “including”, whenused herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Further, many embodiments are described in terms of sequences of actionsto be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It willbe recognized that various actions described herein can be performed byspecific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits(ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or moreprocessors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequencesof actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirelywithin any non-transitory form of computer readable storage mediumhaving stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions thatupon execution would cause an associated processor to perform thefunctionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of thedisclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, which havebeen contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter.In addition, for each of the embodiments described herein, thecorresponding form of any such embodiments may be described herein as,for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

The present disclosure may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, eitherstatically or dynamically defined, of a set of instructions intended tocause a system having an information processing capability to perform aparticular function either directly or after either or both of thefollowing: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b)reproduction in a different material form.

Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, algorithms, and/or stepsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, orcombinations thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application, but such implementation decisions should not beinterpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection withthe embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in firmware,hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in acombination thereof. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flashmemory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk,physical and/or virtual disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, virtualizedsystem or device such as a virtual servers or container, or any otherform of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium iscommunicatively coupled to the processor (including logic/code executingin the processor) such that the processor can read information from, andwrite information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, thestorage medium may be integral to the processor.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tocertain embodiments, it will be noted understood by, for example, thoseskilled in the art that various changes and modifications could be made,and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure as defined, for example, in the appended claims.In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particularsituation or material to the teachings of the present disclosure withoutdeparting from its scope. The functions, steps and/or actions of themethod claims in accordance with the embodiments of the disclosuredescribed herein need not be performed in any particular order.Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described orclaimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation tothe singular is explicitly stated. Therefore, it is intended that thepresent disclosure not be limited to the particular embodimentdisclosed, but that the present disclosure will include all embodimentsfalling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a plurality of nodes,wherein a first node of the plurality of nodes is configured to interactwith a second node of the plurality of nodes based on a defined protocolin a communication network, wherein the first node is associated with afirst participant, wherein the first node is configured to receive arequest for playback of a media content from a content consumerassociated with a consumer device, wherein the second node is associatedwith a second participant, wherein the second participant is associatedwith the requested media content, and wherein the second node isconfigured to provide media content rights associated with the requestedmedia content to at least one of the first participant or the contentconsumer, and wherein the first node is further configured to provide amedia content metadata to the consumer device for consumption by theconsumer device; and a plurality of instances of a distributed mediarights transaction ledger, wherein an instance of the plurality of nodesis associated with a node of the plurality of the nodes, wherein themedia content metadata is received from an instance of the plurality ofinstances of the distributed media rights transaction ledger, whereineach instance of the distributed media rights transaction ledgerincludes a plurality of media content rights transactions correspondingto at least an acquisition of the media content rights by the at leastone of the first participant or the content consumer, wherein theplurality of media content rights transactions are managed by theplurality of nodes based on the defined protocol in the communicationnetwork.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the content consumer requeststhe first node for the media content from a plurality of media contentitems, and wherein the content consumer selects the media content fromthe plurality of media content items for consumption at the consumerdevice.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the plurality of media contentitems includes first media content or second media content, wherein thatthe at least one of the first participant or the content consumer hasmedia content rights to the first media content and the second mediacontent is owned by the second participant associated with the secondnode, wherein the first participant associated with the first node doesnot have media content rights for redistribution of the second mediacontent.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first participantassociated with the first node is further configured to acquire themedia content rights to redistribute to the content consumer based onnegotiation with the second participant associated with the second nodeof the plurality of nodes, wherein the second participant hasredistribution media content rights in absence of the media contentrights with the first participant or the content consumer.
 5. The systemof claim 1, wherein the first node is further configured to transmit themedia content metadata to the consumer device, wherein the media contentmetadata is based on acquisition of the media content rights from thesecond participant for the consumption of the media content at theconsumer device, and wherein the transmitted media content metadatacomprises at least one or more constraints associated with theconsumption of the media content, a location of a fourth node of theplurality of nodes that corresponds to a DRM license system integratedwith the second participant associated with the second node, andmetadata required to acquire a DRM-managed media license from the fourthnode.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more constraintslimit the consumer device to consume the media content, wherein the oneor more constraints comprise at least date and time range restriction ofthe playback of the media content, a number of times the playback isallowed, a possibility to transfer playback rights to anotherparticipant, and downloading or offline playback restriction, andwherein the media content metadata comprises at least a firstdistributed ledger identifier that represents the media content, asecond distributed ledger identifier of the first participant thatfacilitates the consumption of the media content, and a thirddistributed ledger identifier that represents the content consumer. 7.The system of claim 6, wherein the first participant that facilitatesthe consumption of the media content, is further configured to: encryptand hash the first distributed ledger identifier, the second distributedledger identifier, and the third distributed ledger identifier; andcreate a cryptographic signature utilized to validate an origin of therequest for the playback of the media content based on the encrypted andhashed first distributed ledger identifier, the second distributedledger identifier, and the third distributed ledger identifier.
 8. Thesystem of claim 5, wherein at least one of the consumer device or thefirst node communicates a license request to the fourth node of theplurality of nodes that corresponds to a digital rights management (DRM)license system owned by the second participant with the metadatareceived from the first node, upon selection to consume the mediacontent.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein, based on receipt of thelicense request from the consumer device, the fourth node is configuredto: verify authenticity of the license request based on comparison of asignature of the license request from the first participant with one ormore cryptographic keys, verify that the media content rights exist onthe distributed media rights transaction ledger for the content consumerto consume the media content based on usage of an instance of thedistributed media rights transaction ledger associated with the secondnode, issue a media content rights transaction to the communicationnetwork of an acceptance of the license request and consumption of themedia content by the content consumer, and respond to the licenserequest with the DRM-managed media license that enables the consumptionof the media content.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the fourth nodeis further configured to verify the existence of the media contentrights on the distributed media rights transaction ledger for thecontent consumer by at least (1) traversal of a first plurality ofrecords of media content rights that belong to the content consumer fora selected media content, (2) determination of a set of restrictionsthat exist for the playback of the media content, and (3) traversal of asecond plurality of records of at least one of the first participant orthe second participant that distributed the media content rights to thecontent consumer for consumption, and ensure that no restrictions existfor the content consumer to continue to consume the media content. 11.The system of claim 9, wherein the fourth node is further configured toissue the transaction to the communication network of the acceptance ofthe license request and consumption of the media content by the contentconsumer such that (1) a history of the consumption of the media contentby the content consumer is recorded on the distributed media rightstransaction ledger, (2) a history of the first participant whofacilitated the consumption of the media content for the contentconsumer is recorded on the distributed media rights transaction ledger,and (3) an audit trail of consumption of the media content is recordedon the distributed media rights transaction ledger.
 12. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the DRM-managed media license includes one or moreconstraints according to DRM of the media content based on a set ofrestrictions of the media content rights of the content consumer toconsume the media content.
 13. The system of claim 9, wherein theconsumer device receives the DRM-managed media license and executes theplayback of the media content by use of DRM-managed media license in aspecified manner consistent with the DRM of the media content.
 14. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the communication network is a distributedcommunication network.
 15. A method, comprising: receiving, by a firstnode of a plurality of nodes associated with a first participant, arequest for playback of a media content from a content consumerassociated with a consumer device, wherein the first node of theplurality of nodes is configured to interact with a second node of theplurality of nodes based on a defined protocol in a communicationnetwork, and wherein a plurality of instances of a distributed mediarights transaction ledger, wherein an instance of the plurality of nodesis associated with a node of the plurality of the nodes; providing, bythe second node associated with a second participant, media contentrights associated with the requested media content to at least one ofthe first participant or the content consumer, wherein the secondparticipant is associated with the requested media content; andproviding, by the first node, media content metadata to the consumerdevice for consumption by the consumer device based on the media contentrights provided by the second node, wherein the media content metadatais received from an instance of the plurality of instances of thedistributed media rights transaction ledger; wherein each instance ofthe distributed media rights transaction ledger includes a plurality ofmedia content rights transactions corresponding to at least anacquisition of the media content rights by the at least one of the firstparticipant or the content consumer, and wherein the plurality of mediacontent rights transactions is managed by the plurality of nodes basedon the defined protocol in the communication network.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising requesting, by a content consumer, thefirst node of the plurality of nodes for the media content from aplurality of media content items, wherein the content consumer selectsthe media content from the plurality of media content items forconsumption at the consumer device.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereinthe plurality of media content items includes first media content orsecond media content, wherein that the at least one of the firstparticipant or the content consumer has media content rights to thefirst media content and the second media content is owned by the secondparticipant associated with the second node, and wherein the firstparticipant associated with the first node does not have media contentrights for redistribution of the second media content.
 18. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising acquiring, by the first participantassociated with the first node, the media content rights to redistributeto the content consumer based on negotiation with the second participantassociated with the second node of the plurality of nodes, wherein thesecond participant has redistribution media content rights in absence ofthe media content rights with the first participant or the contentconsumer.
 19. The method of claim 15, further comprising transmitting,by the first node, the media content metadata to the consumer device,wherein the media content metadata is based on acquisition of the mediacontent rights from the second participant for the consumption of themedia content at the consumer device, and wherein the transmitted mediacontent metadata comprises at least one or more constraints associatedwith the consumption of the media content, a location of a fourth nodeof the plurality of nodes that corresponds to a DRM license systemintegrated with the second participant associated with the second node,and metadata required to acquire a DRM-managed media license from thefourth node.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or moreconstraints limit the consumer device to consume the media content,wherein the one or more constraints comprise at least date and timerange restriction of the playback of the media content, a number oftimes the playback is allowed, a possibility to transfer playback rightsto another participant, and downloading or offline playback restriction,and wherein the media content metadata comprises at least a firstdistributed ledger identifier that represents the media content, asecond distributed ledger identifier of the first participant thatfacilitates the consumption of the media content, and a thirddistributed ledger identifier that represents the content consumer. 21.The method of claim 20, further comprising: encrypting and hashing, bythe first participant, the first distributed ledger identifier, thesecond distributed ledger identifier, and the third distributed ledgeridentifier; and creating, by the first participant, a cryptographicsignature utilized to validate an origin of the request for the playbackof the media content based on the encrypted and hashed first distributedledger identifier, the second distributed ledger identifier, and thethird distributed ledger identifier.
 22. The method of claim 19, furthercomprising communicating, at least one of the consumer device or thefirst node communicates a license request to the fourth node of theplurality of nodes that corresponds to a digital rights management (DRM)license system owned by the second participant with the metadatareceived from the first node, upon selection to consume the mediacontent.
 23. The method of claim 22, further comprising: verifying bythe fourth node, based on receipt of the license request from theconsumer device, authenticity of the license request based on comparisonof a signature of the license request from the first participant withone or more cryptographic keys, verify that the media content rightsexist on the distributed media rights transaction ledger for the contentconsumer to consume the media content based on usage of an instance ofthe distributed media rights transaction ledger associated with thesecond node, issue a media content rights transaction to thecommunication network of an acceptance of the license request andconsumption of the media content by the content consumer, and respond tothe license request with the DRM-managed media license that enables theconsumption of the media content.
 24. The method of claim 23, furthercomprising verifying, by the fourth node, the existence of the mediacontent rights on the distributed media rights transaction ledger forthe content consumer by at least (1) traversing a first plurality ofrecords of media content rights that belong to the content consumer fora selected media content, (2) determining a set of restrictions thatexist for the playback of the media content, and (3) traversing a secondplurality of records of at least one of the first participant or thesecond participant that distributed the media content rights to thecontent consumer for consumption, and ensure that no restrictions existfor the content consumer to continue to consume the media content. 25.The method of claim 23, further comprising issuing, by the fourth node,the transaction to the communication network of the acceptance of thelicense request and consumption of the media content by the contentconsumer such that (1) a history of the consumption of the media contentby the content consumer is recorded on the distributed media rightstransaction ledger, (2) a history of the first participant whofacilitated the consumption of the media content for the contentconsumer is recorded on the distributed media rights transaction ledger,and (3) an audit trail of consumption of the media content is recordedon the distributed media rights transaction ledger.
 26. The method ofclaim 23, wherein the DRM-managed media license includes one or moreconstraints according to DRM of the media content based on a set ofrestrictions of the media content rights of the content consumer toconsume the media content.
 27. The method of claim 23, furthercomprising: receiving, by the consumer device, the DRM-managed medialicense; and executing, by the consumer device, the playback of themedia content by use of DRM-managed media license in a specified mannerconsistent with the DRM of the media content.
 28. The method of claim15, wherein the communication network is a distributed communicationnetwork.
 29. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having storedthereon, computer implemented instruction that when executed by aprocessor in a computer, causes the computer to execute operations, theoperations comprising: in a communication network: receiving, by a firstnode of a plurality of nodes associated with a first participant, arequest for playback of a media content from a content consumerassociated with a consumer device, wherein the first node of theplurality of nodes is configured to interact with a second node of theplurality of nodes based on a defined protocol in a communicationnetwork, and wherein a plurality of instances of a distributed mediarights transaction ledger, wherein an instance of the plurality of nodesis associated with a node of the plurality of the nodes; providing, bythe second node associated with a second participant, media contentrights associated with the requested media content to at least one ofthe first participant or the content consumer, wherein the secondparticipant is associated with the requested media content; andproviding, by the first node, media content metadata to the consumerdevice for consumption by the consumer device based on the media contentrights provided by the second node, wherein the media content metadatais received from an instance of the plurality of instances of thedistributed media rights transaction ledger; wherein each instance ofthe distributed media rights transaction ledger includes a plurality ofmedia content rights transactions corresponding to at least anacquisition of the media content rights by the at least one of the firstparticipant or the content consumer, and wherein the plurality of mediacontent rights transactions is managed by the plurality of nodes basedon the defined protocol in the communication network.